My journey to passing my test - part 2

Hello! It’s Naomi, I am an athlete specialising in the triple jump. I train fives a week and often have to travel to different parts of the country to compete. I’m going to tell you guys about my long journey to passing my test, with all the “feels”.

Before my driving test

After failing, it’s super hard to find the motivation to try again, for this reason, I decided after failing my first practical driving test that I would book my next test as soon as possible. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get it as soon as I would have liked so I had a month and a half to motivate myself to try and pass my test for the second time. Before I knew it, my driving test was in a couple of days and I had only done around five lessons since failing. My dad was also getting more and more tired of having to take me to training. I was pretty desperate to pass, but I knew that I hadn’t put the right amount of work in.

As the date moved closer, I wasn’t just feeling nervous about the upcoming test but absolute dread. I really didn’t want to do the test, but I felt like I had no other option but to get it done. It also seemed like every part of my current circumstance was working against me. My competition season had started, I had university exams and the weather was very, very bad.

The day of my driving test

On the day of the test, I looked out the window and my heart dropped. The weather was awful; There was a thick fog and it was pouring down with rain. I rang my driving instructor and she told me that there was a chance that my test would be postponed – I felt happy as I really wasn’t in the mood, and I thought that this would give me more time to prepare. But as the day went on the weather improved and my instructor said it was fine to go ahead with the test.

A couple of hours before the test my instructor and I practised, but because I wasn’t in the right frame of mind I was making lots of little mistakes and my manoeuvres were going horribly wrong, When we arrived at the test centre I felt like crying, and as I began the test, I noticed myself making small mistakes and I thought “Well I’ve already failed” (Bad move) The instructor ended up grabbing the wheel as I failed to check my mirror before changing lanes.

I wasn’t shocked or sad when the examiner told me that I had failed.

Moving forward

I went home and my dad told me to book a test for as soon as possible and this time I prepared much better, but I knew inside that I still wasn’t ready. The test was soon approaching and I began to lose confidence on the roads; I asked my driving instructor if she honestly thought that I would pass if I took my test and she said she wasn’t sure. I told her I didn’t think I was ready and that I wanted to change the date of my test, which she told me was a brave decision.

The great thing about the DVLA website is that you can change the date of your test without charge up to 3 clear working days before it. I changed the date to a month later where I had fewer competitions and no exams, so my mind could be clear and focussed on how to improve my driving and be more confident on the roads.

On the day of my test, I felt confident and super ready, and I passed with only two minor faults!

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